Drew Lavender/Chris Clark
Just one long post tonight, as I got a late start and am dead tired, with Gonzaga-UVa still waiting for me on my Tivo.
Over the past two nights, I've had the opportunity to watch two of the smallest point guards in major college basketball: Xavier's Drew Lavender and Temple's Chris Clark. Despite similarities in size -- Lavender is 5'7", Clark stands an inch taller -- Lavender was clearly the more effective player.
Lavender is extremely quick, but that's not where his advantage over Clark lies; the Temple junior seemed just as capable of beating his defender as the Xavier junior is. But when Clark got into the lane and was met by taller Duke defenders on Tuesday night, he was rarely able to do anything useful with the ball. He doesn't seem to have learned the art -- and it is an art -- of scoring over taller defenders, and he often was too shallow with his penetration, so that he didn't draw defenders to him enough in order to free his teammates for open looks. To be frank, his height seemed to severely hamper his game, and when he was running the halfcourt offense, the Owls were playing at less than full strength.
If Clark wants to learn how a player of his size must play to be effective, he need look no farther than Lavender, the Oklahoma transfer. For starters, Lavender is supremely confident and comfortable with the ball. For his part, Clark appeared unfamiliar with being the shortest guy on the court.
But what makes Lavender so effective despite his stature is something significantly more subtle: the way he dribbles the ball. This is hard to describe without using visual aids, but when Lavender is using the bounce in the open court or in the lane, his hand is on top of the ball as little as possible. This can be a little dicey, as you don't want to expose too much of the ball to the defender. Additionally, your hand must always be near to the ball or touching it on the side, without going underneath it -- otherwise, you risk a carrying call.
However, once this tricky maneuver is mastered, it affords the ballhandler the ability to get rid of the ball at almost any moment. Coaches at lower levels traditionally discourage their players from throwing one-handed passes (their reasoning being that you can't pull it back if a defender jumps the passing lane), but such a pass fired directly off the dribble may catch the defense off guard and result in a basket that wouldn't be possible if the passer took the time to gather the ball in both hands before snapping it off a teammate.
It should be obvious that the ability to get rid of the ball quickly is especially important for shorter players. The element of surprise allows them an extra half-second to catch their defender napping or with their hands down. A taller player can get away with holding the ball a bit longer, because his defender's wing span won't overwhelm his passing lane.
This skill is just as important when it comes to scoring. A player of Lavender's size who finds himself in the lane will almost always next come upon a much larger player who will block any shot if given the opportunity. It's imperative, then, for shorter players to take their shots when the defense isn't expecting it -- maybe as the opposition's shot blocker is gathering himself to go up for his jump. Of course, thye must also add extra arc to their shots in traffic, fade away on their release, and use their bodies to shield the ball from the defender.
Lavender has these qualities. The first several shots he took against Kansas State were teardrop floaters, released with a shotput-type motion while just rising off the floor (as opposed to a jump shot, which is released at the apex of the jump). Lavender transitioned almost imperceptibly between dribble and shot -- it's as if the shot was a natural continuation of the dribble. At least one of these shots came off of the wrong foot -- an invaluable weapon for the smaller player. Good shot blockers rely heavily on timing and instincts, and catching them by surprise is a good way to neutralize them.
My favorite Lavender move of the night came early in the second half. Guarded at the top of the key by the Wildcats' Clent Stewart -- a man fully nine inches taller than him -- Lavender froze his defender, crossing over to his left and letting the ball spin near his shoulder while using his body and eyes to feign going somewhere other than the basket. With no help defense in sight, Stewart actually made a pretty decent recovery, elevating from off of Lavender's right hip in an attempt to block the shot. Recognizing that using his left hand (as is customary from the left side of the bucket) would result in at worst a blocked shot and at best a very delicate bank shot from a tough angle, he instead used his height (or lack of it) to his advantage, leaning in underneath Stewart's arm and scoring on a right-handed layup.
A lot of this ability is instinctive, but it can be taught. I don't mean to pick on Clark -- honestly. He just happened to appear on TV in a game the day before I saw Lavender and was struck by the contrast. There are surely others who could learn something from Lavender.
Over the past two nights, I've had the opportunity to watch two of the smallest point guards in major college basketball: Xavier's Drew Lavender and Temple's Chris Clark. Despite similarities in size -- Lavender is 5'7", Clark stands an inch taller -- Lavender was clearly the more effective player.
Lavender is extremely quick, but that's not where his advantage over Clark lies; the Temple junior seemed just as capable of beating his defender as the Xavier junior is. But when Clark got into the lane and was met by taller Duke defenders on Tuesday night, he was rarely able to do anything useful with the ball. He doesn't seem to have learned the art -- and it is an art -- of scoring over taller defenders, and he often was too shallow with his penetration, so that he didn't draw defenders to him enough in order to free his teammates for open looks. To be frank, his height seemed to severely hamper his game, and when he was running the halfcourt offense, the Owls were playing at less than full strength.
If Clark wants to learn how a player of his size must play to be effective, he need look no farther than Lavender, the Oklahoma transfer. For starters, Lavender is supremely confident and comfortable with the ball. For his part, Clark appeared unfamiliar with being the shortest guy on the court.
But what makes Lavender so effective despite his stature is something significantly more subtle: the way he dribbles the ball. This is hard to describe without using visual aids, but when Lavender is using the bounce in the open court or in the lane, his hand is on top of the ball as little as possible. This can be a little dicey, as you don't want to expose too much of the ball to the defender. Additionally, your hand must always be near to the ball or touching it on the side, without going underneath it -- otherwise, you risk a carrying call.
However, once this tricky maneuver is mastered, it affords the ballhandler the ability to get rid of the ball at almost any moment. Coaches at lower levels traditionally discourage their players from throwing one-handed passes (their reasoning being that you can't pull it back if a defender jumps the passing lane), but such a pass fired directly off the dribble may catch the defense off guard and result in a basket that wouldn't be possible if the passer took the time to gather the ball in both hands before snapping it off a teammate.
It should be obvious that the ability to get rid of the ball quickly is especially important for shorter players. The element of surprise allows them an extra half-second to catch their defender napping or with their hands down. A taller player can get away with holding the ball a bit longer, because his defender's wing span won't overwhelm his passing lane.
This skill is just as important when it comes to scoring. A player of Lavender's size who finds himself in the lane will almost always next come upon a much larger player who will block any shot if given the opportunity. It's imperative, then, for shorter players to take their shots when the defense isn't expecting it -- maybe as the opposition's shot blocker is gathering himself to go up for his jump. Of course, thye must also add extra arc to their shots in traffic, fade away on their release, and use their bodies to shield the ball from the defender.
Lavender has these qualities. The first several shots he took against Kansas State were teardrop floaters, released with a shotput-type motion while just rising off the floor (as opposed to a jump shot, which is released at the apex of the jump). Lavender transitioned almost imperceptibly between dribble and shot -- it's as if the shot was a natural continuation of the dribble. At least one of these shots came off of the wrong foot -- an invaluable weapon for the smaller player. Good shot blockers rely heavily on timing and instincts, and catching them by surprise is a good way to neutralize them.
My favorite Lavender move of the night came early in the second half. Guarded at the top of the key by the Wildcats' Clent Stewart -- a man fully nine inches taller than him -- Lavender froze his defender, crossing over to his left and letting the ball spin near his shoulder while using his body and eyes to feign going somewhere other than the basket. With no help defense in sight, Stewart actually made a pretty decent recovery, elevating from off of Lavender's right hip in an attempt to block the shot. Recognizing that using his left hand (as is customary from the left side of the bucket) would result in at worst a blocked shot and at best a very delicate bank shot from a tough angle, he instead used his height (or lack of it) to his advantage, leaning in underneath Stewart's arm and scoring on a right-handed layup.
A lot of this ability is instinctive, but it can be taught. I don't mean to pick on Clark -- honestly. He just happened to appear on TV in a game the day before I saw Lavender and was struck by the contrast. There are surely others who could learn something from Lavender.
posted by H.S. Slam, Ph.D at 1:27 AM
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